Wats Reel 20"x24" (Commisioned)

The very cool thing about this is that it represents a dream that was pursued due to the love of a very caring spouse. Caleb is the guy in the picture. He has always been passionate about movies.Through the untold sacrifice of his wife he was able to quit a miserable job that he hated and go to film school. If you ever get to speak to Caleb you'll know this was the right path for him. His demeanor and passion are so powerful you can feel it and you want to be part of anything he's doing. As many of you know, when I find someone living their dream I celebrate. The story behind this makes it all that much sweeter. This year has been challenging for me. Through this rough year, the one jewel is that I got to work with Whitney and really get to know her. She is unselfish, intelligent, determined and is always trying to improve herself. She will always be a great friend to me and I will always be grateful that she allowed me to be a small part of this wonderful journey that she and Caleb have begun. 

Dark Disney 20"x30" (Private Collection)

This was fun to paint. The original image came from one of our family trips to Disney World. This trip was in October so we were able to attend the "Not So Scary" Halloween party. We sat near Cinderella's Castle and like always we snapped a million pictures. With a ton of fire works behind her the Castle looked beautiful. For a few years I have been wanting to paint this and I truly enjoyed working "dark." It allowed for blends that I would have never dreamed of on a lighter painting. Once this was finished I received a few compliments. One was from my oldest brother Doug. Not many people know this but he took me in when I was 19 and was trying to get my life on track. He never asked for a dime or gave me any grief. I hope the gift of this painting is a decent thank you, so many years later.

Dome Light (Reflection Collection) 11"x14" (Sold)

About two years ago my friend Trent took me to the auto show. I went around snapping pictures of everything with a reflection. I have wanted to paint this since then but as many of you know my 9-5 (really more like 7-7) gets overwhelming and with my priorities being focused on Cheryl and Kerrigan I put this stuff on the back burner. Well, I finally took a few hours and finished this. For the life of me I could not tell you what kind of cars are in the picture. I did think it was interesting that I finally realized it was better to edit the photographer out of the painting. What made me realize this was a friend asking about the very unusual shadow in the original VW reflection painting. I had to agree that could be interpreted as something not desirable and really started to look at what makes the best painting and not what makes it accurate to the photo.

Bumpus Shell (Commissioned )

Wow, it's been forever since I added to this blog. This painting was actually done almost a year ago. It was done for a family I met about 8 years ago. They are about the hardest working people I know. In fact this painting is kind of a result of that ambition. It shows the building that Mr. Bumpus purchased and had his Gulf station at. The family now owns 2 very successful Body shops in Clarksville, TN. This painting was a bit challenging since the location was sold many years ago and has fallen into disrepair. The only images of it were taken in its current state. Josh (the youngest son) and I discussed the colors, stripes and general design at length. This was commissioned for the Patriarch for his Christmas gift last year. I am always inspired by the work ethic of this family and feel truly grateful that they have had me produce several pieces over the years.

Polychromatic Anomaly 24" x 30"

Alright, for those of you that know me, I am not the kind of artist to get, well...artsy fartsy about stuff. The name of this one kind looks like I did but the definition of each of the words fits.

pol·y·chro·mat·ic adj
1. Having or exhibiting many colors.
2. Of or composed of radiation of more than one wavelength: polychromatic light


a·nom·a·ly noun
1. a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form.
2. someone or something anomalous: With his quiet nature, he was an anomaly in his exuberant family.
3. an odd, peculiar, or strange condition, situation, quality, etc.

I hope you like it!

Various

This is awful, I have been so busy at my 9-5 that I have barely had time to paint, not to mention trying to update my blog. Since October I have complete these three paintings. In my scramble to keep up with my real job I keep putting off posting these.

The two daytime scenes were commissioned by wonderful people I work with. The top one was for David to give to his wife at their anniversary. It is an image of their Grand Children at the beach he snuck away from her so I could paint from it. I was sick as a dog the weeks prior to the deadline on this. I think I got it finished the day before it was needed to surprise her. Thanks to David for being so patient.

The other day at the beach was for Carol. It was for her son in law when he was coming home from a tour of duty oversees. From the best of my knowledge he was supposed to be staying here for a while and this image of him and his daughter was supposed to hang in his new office here in the states. As it turns out Uncle Sam needed him again oversees. God Bless him and his family for all the sacrifices they make for all of us.

Last but not least is a shot Cheryl took from our most recent trip to Florida. It's an image from our rented 6th floor condo down the beach at night. We both just loved the colors that were there. Thanks again to Cheryl for the images she provides.

Fishing Buddy #1 16" x 20" (Commisioned)

This last year my 9-5 has been insane to say the least. As part of that I got to meet and work with Dave. Not that he's insane...well he is a little but I consider that a good trait. He is the salt of the earth, hardworking kind of guy that a lot more of us should be. After getting to know him a little better he asked if I would be interested in completing these paintings for him. Of course I said yes. How cool is it to share times like this with your children not to mention actually being able to snap a picture of him with his first fish. While I was painting these I asked Dave more about Jesse. From what I found out we might have the next President on our hands. Turns out he not just a mean fisherman but extremely intelligent.

Fishing Buddy #2 10" x 10" (Commisioned)

This one was done smaller and in a little bit more of an Impressionist style. The idea was that this one was meant to compliment the first and not detract from it. That was part of the reason for the size and less detail. I really enjoyed painting these. It was very freeing to work in the more relaxed style on this one and use the palette I had developed on it to get right into the other.

The Way 24" x 30"

This is a tough one to explain in the right order. We were in Florida. I woke up from a nap (I love a good nap) and saw the door handle to the closet. For some reason my mind saw it like this. At that point my mind went back to some philosophical stuff about paths and life lessons that I had read years ago. It occurred to me that this gave a nice visual to what we all go through. We wander down and around the paths. We discover these pockets of exciting and wonderful things but they are finite. While we are doing this, what we are really searching for are the answers or The Way. The crazy part is that most of never even know the handle is there.

Tree At Sunset 10" x 10" (Sold)

Every sunset I watch the sky. If Cheryl and Kerrigan are around I always point it out to them. To let you know what a good family I have they have never expressed their boredom with this practice. We recently got a puppy for Kerrigan. As you may know puppies need a lot of "personal time." During one of those events I was outside and noticed a nice blue and pink sunset behind or neighbors tree. This image is how it registered in my mind.

The Gift 9" x 12"

The flowers were part of the Mother's Day gift Kerrigan and I got for Cheryl this past year. To be completely honest, I just really thought they were pretty and wanted to use them. I had a lot of fun painting this as I added and jabbed color were I felt it should be. This was an exercise in the joy of painting.

Old Hickory Lake 9" x 12" (Sold)

Last fall we spent a beautiful day at the lake on Mike and Deanna's boat. Mike enjoyed a very cold swim and we enjoyed the scenery. Shortly before we left I noticed the reflection of the gorgeous colors from the trees in the lake. To me, the impact of the image is in the fall colors and the feeling of the impending sunset. Each of them signaling the end of a cycle, both occurring simultaneously in this image.

Day At The Beach 9" x 12"

Our recent trip to Florida was nice. Cheryl did a great job researching and planning. We spent about a week there which was a much needed rest for the three of us. After spending the morning at the beach we went back to our rented 14th floor condo. I was looking down at the beach and loved the rainbow colored umbrellas strewn across it and snapped some pictures. What I think is really neat is that everyone set up their shade but was having too much fun playing to be in it when I snapped the pictures.

LoL 12" x 12"

This time it stands for Labor of Love. Before I started this version I worked on another one for quite a while. It did not turn out so good. That was a little tough to deal with and definitely affected my momentum. Through some soul searching I found a little more of my voice and affirmed that I truly love this medium.

Knowing that makes all of the effort and the emotion worth it. It truly is a Labor of Love.

Ahh 24" x 36" (Commissioned)

This one produced one of the most confusing and funny commission conversations I have had so far. When I started in the new position I have with my 9-5 I was training with a guy that worked for Ed. One of those weeks Ed was on vacation and sent this to his crew. I loved the shot even though I had Ed's reputation mixed up with another manager that was not so cool. I hung onto the email knowing I wanted to paint it and thought someday I would ask this not so cool person if he would mind me painting it. I figured I would just add it to my collection. I had mentioned this to some of his employees. Months after that I found out Ed was not the person I thought he was and then had the opportunity to work with him for and extended period of time. I found out that he is very cool, very much an out of the box thinker, and a hell of a song writer and musician. I also got to meet his lovely wife Gay. Not to sidetrack this but they have a very long and obviously very good relationship. They are nice to watch together. Anyway, back to the story. I was speaking to Ed and Gay, he said you know the Bahama toe picture, your going to paint that. I thought one of his guys had told him of my intentions. I said, I was going to ask your permission. I figured that I babbled for a while the way my mouth does when I actually free form engage my over thinking everything mind. Then he said "no, I want you to paint it for me". The rest is history. I got to do a cool scene, for very cool people, and get to laugh every time I think about that conversation.

Nashville from Broadway 30" x 40"

Cheryl, Kerrigan, and I were leaving a Disney on Ice show at the Sommet Center when Cheryl just casually snapped this picture. We both knew it right then it was great shot. The composition of the picture was awesome. I love the contrast of how the "Batman Building" towers up, gleaming against the backdrop of the sky and the old brick buildings stand low out in front, sturdy and with so much character. The angle she got was great too . I think she has a natural eye for photography. There were a couple of names considered for this one. NashVegas or Hollywood Without a Tan (from the Shawn Mullins' song) were two that I kicked around but I was not sure if the people who don't live around here would get it.

Knock Off #2 30" x 40" (Cheryl's "Private Collection")

Well it happened again. Cheryl went to Target and found a painting she loved and I opened my big mouth. I said, I can do that. Of course her reply (again) was, get busy! So here you go. To get all philosophical about it I feel like this life will lead you in the direction you need to go if you make your decisions for the right reasons and pay close attention. The fact is, I have been wanting to do some more "loose" or kind of impressionist pieces. This painting that I copied showed me a lot of what goes into this abstract style and I got that lesson because I wanted to do something nice for my wife. She deserves nice stuff for putting up with me over the years. As a matter of fact if you dig on the whole Karma thing she should be Oprah rich for having to survive the way my mind works. This will definitely give me a leg up on my next piece. It's going to be an original in a style between what I normally do and this. If you like this painting it was originally done by Kate Birch. The one at Target is 18 x 24. She has numerous pieces available at http://www.katebirch.com/

Magic for Monkey (Ref Col #4) 12" x 12" (Kerigan's Private Collection)

This past December we went to the "Magic Kingdom". Thanks to a lot of hard work by Cheryl it was truly magical. She spent many hours planning so that we would be able to really enjoy it. I think that you can tell by the smile on Kerrigan's face, we all had a great time.

As you might know I am sort of attracted to good reflections. So this image combines my beautiful daughter having a great time and two cool reflections (one in each lens) If you look closely you'll see Cheryl taking the picture in the left eye lens (your right).

Paradise 12" x 16" (Commisioned)

Jason and Sonya are friends of mine that happen to be co-workers as well. Sonya asked me if I would be interested in painting something for Jason's Birthday. Without hesitation I agreed. A great part of doing this painting is using this fantastic image that Sonya captured during their honeymoon trip while golfing in Hawaii. It's a beautiful scene, taken at the perfect point in his swing, while celebrating their love. It just doesn't get any better than that. Something that makes it more special for me is that I started golfing as a result of Jason's invitation to play in a scramble with Sonya and him. That scramble turned out to be the day I got to know Sonya, got to know Jason better, and started down the road to the poorhouse as a golf addict.

Tahoe (Ref Col #3) 24"x30"

Since the day I finished the first Reflection Collection painting I have been in search of images with cool reflections. Shortly after that Graeme came back from a ski trip. He had captured some fantastic images of his trip. In those images was one he took of himself that had a great reflection from his mask. At that time he was remodeling one house, selling another, working a very stressful job, and expecting the birth of his first child. You can imagine that when I asked him to send me the images it was not a priority. His life finally slowed down and Graeme sent the images that I picked out along with a "bonus image". I initially went through them and kind of settled on the original that I had selected. Then I looked again at this one and was completely sold. Not only does it have two reflections it shows a loving couple in the midst of their adventure.

Balance 12x16 (Sold)

I was at Mike and Deanna's house to take some pictures of their view of the lake and to discuss painting it for them. I was talking to Deanna in the kitchen. As I had done in the past, I was telling her how impressed I was with how she can be so active with her career and enjoy it so much. She explained to me how she gets it from her Father and that is natural for her. You should ask her what she does. I loved hearing all that she does but was truly tired just thinking about it. Then to know her husband Mike, he is as active! They are a great match for each other and a truly impressive couple. Deanna was telling me that since they had their daughters that she has really worked at finding balance in her life. As she was saying that, she was tackled by her girls and was literally trying to keep her balance as well. I was just fortunate enough to have a camera in hand and that she let me use her image to show one of the great lessons in life...Balance.

VW2 (Ref Col 2) 12"x16" (Sold)

I was driving myself insane trying to find another cool reflection to paint. I begged my friend Graeme to let me have one he took of himself while he was skiing but he won't give it up. I even convinced one of my co-workers into letting me take some pictures of him while we were driving of the reflection in his sunglasses showing the road and traffic as it passed (yep, that was really safe). Unfortunately, they didn't turn out. I was scouring through the images that I already had and found this. Well it was not like this at first. It was sideways and had much more of the car. A little cropping and rotating and here you go.

Where's Nessie 30"x40" (Sold)

I went hiking with my good friend Mickey. For those of you who don't know Mikey, it's a little John nickname. Mikey is not a small guy. We get along well because he's crazy and he's one of the most honest and upstanding people that I have ever met. Well, enough sunshine for Mikey's butt.
Mikey has an Uncle John who was the main reason this hiking trip originated. John was playing in a Bluegrass festival that just happened to be in an awesome spot for a hike. John had returned from a trip to Scotland not long before where he had snapped this picture. He has some beautiful pictures from that trip and was kind enough to share this one of the Loch Ness lake with me.

The Beautiful People 24"x30" (Sold)

Yes, I know it's out of proportion or as I as my daughter said "Daddy, why is one eye bigger". I don't know if she or my wife dug the explanation but here goes. You know when you meet a beautiful women, you may notice that one eye stands out more than the other (Yes, you men out there, they have eyes). That eye projects and lends itself over the rest of her facade to attept to show that all is good and beautiful. When you look at the rest of her face you see the troubles, the emotions, and the insecurities. I've noticed it time after time. If you ask and really listen they'll share it with you.

That visual led to the introspective that we all show our public facade and split it with the deep maybe even painful side of this life. If you really look at people it shows physically.

Tigress 2 12"x14" (Commissioned)

This is the second of the two images for our friends Sindi and Adrian. I have tentatively called them "Tigress 1& 2" because while I was painting them I kept picturing the photos of Tiger Woods at 3-4 years old. Imagine if we can look back at these images of her when she is setting the world on fire as a professional golfer. For those of you who have not met her, it is very possible. She is a very gifted athlete. I love both of these images for her obvious concentration. Her body language just shows how into it she is.

Tigress 1 12"x14" (Commissioned)

This is image one of two. I was out of town and missing my family when I got a call from our friend Sindi. She asked if I would be interested in painting a couple of pictures of her daughter who is also a friend of our daughter. That picked my spirits up a little. When I told her that I would love to paint these images I also sent a text stating that I was sorry for being blah. She sent a simple text back saying that it was fine and "Blah be gone". That little "spell" was so simple and genuine it made me smile instantly. Thanks Sindi.

Rockin 9"x12"

My friend Adrian had tickets to see Linkin Park. He had intended on taking his wife. However, Sindi was pregnant and didn't feel like throwing punches in the mosh pit so he invited me. After a night of acting like we were teenagers again he sent me this blurry image from his cell phone. The coolest part of it is that my fairly proper friend had jumped the railing and forced his way up to the stage to snap this picture. I really like it for the colors and remembering rockin out.

VW (Ref Col #1) 24"x30"

I was driving down the road in the company car. I was stuck in traffic. I looked over at the Tractor Trailer next to me. I caught a glimpse of my car in the hub cap and snapped a picture of it. I thought is was so cool. But what wasn't cool was that it was a Ford 500 (not that there is anything wrong with Fords). I called my friend Jeff who owns several Bugs. He agreed to try to capture a cool picture for me. I think he did a great job. This image is of his Bug in the hub cap on his wife's Bug. It was so much fun to paint and I still love to look at it because of it's twists and turns. Ref Col #1 refers to my desire to do many more interesting reflection paintings.

Whale's Story 24"x30" (Kerrigan's Private Collection)

This is the a fore mentioned "Whale's Story". After doing "Knock Off" I needed to do an abstract. We were sitting at a soccer camp that we had Kerrigan enrolled in talking with our friend Sindi. I was sketching while we were talking about our last trip to Hawaii. The sketch turned into a whale's tail and then into this painting. I wanted people to think about the whale's journey. I was going to title it "Whale's Tale" but I didn't want people to think that I couldn't spell.

Knock Off 20"x24" (Cheryl's "Private Collection")

This painting is a complete "knock off". Cheryl and I were in Target. She said that she loved a painting there. I told her that I could do it in two hours. She suggested I get busy. When we got home I started it. I spent one hour the first day and one hour the second day and it was completed. At first I did not get any pleasure from this painting as it was not original. As a matter of fact I did not even sign it the way I normally would. But doing a painting with such lack of detail and loading up the paint taught me quite a bit. The lessons learned from this inspired "Whale's Story". Once again, I am grateful to Cheryl.

K's Close Up 12"x16" (Private Collection)

Next painting was done of my favorite subject, my awesome daughter Kerrigan. She is in three of my sculptures but this is the first in oil. She and Cheryl were just goofing off when they snapped this photo. I loved that it was so close up and had such an uninhibited smile. I'm kind of partial to her smile anyways. This painting has it's critics, but I like it. It's always arguable what style to use. As an artist, I think you just have to go with what appeals to your eyes. If you follow other's you will be pulled in too many other directions. Besides I want to show my vision, not what history says is good. That said, I appreciate the honest criticism. From the critic, a compliment is usually honest.

Meghan's Mexico 40"x30" (Commissioned)

I was getting ready to start another painting. Trent and I were going out on another bike ride. He asked me if I would be interested in painting another painting for him. He said that he was considering the image that was to eventually be "Meghan's Mexico". I told him I would love to. I told him that I had wanted to paint "Meghan's Mexico" but I didn't want him to think that I was just making paintings to sell to him. We discussed the size 40" x 30". That was a big painting for me, but I loved that photo, the juxtaposition of the modern car being held up by a mule train, the way the buildings curved, the colors. When it was all about done, I called him and asked about adding something personalized to the license plate. We agreed on her name. As it turns out, when I finished it she was out of town. I brought it to their house and he was able to surprise her when she got home. Again, such a spectacular home displaying one of my paintings.

Five Amigos 24"x 30" (Sold)

For the third session of the previously mentioned class, I needed another subject. Fortunately a good friend of mine Trent had a photo that his his wonderful wife, Meghan had taken while she was in college. At the time she was in Mexico as an exchange student. They were kind enough to let me use it. As it turns out, they liked the final painting so well that they bought it. I have sold quite a few sculptures, but this was the first oil painting that I sold. Knowing that Trent and Meghan liked it enough to show it in their spectacular house was a huge compliment. By the way, Trent and his Father built our house. They are wonderful to deal with and built us a beautiful home.

WH Greenway 24"x30" (Sold)

This is the first oil painting that I completed. At this point I had completed numerous sculptures and a very few acrylic paintings prior to this. I have been drawing since the third grade. At least that's my first memory of acknowledgement of something artistic that I did. I got away from the sculptures due to the fragile nature of the medium that I was using and the enormous cost of bronze. Cheryl (my wife) suggested a class for some kind of art. She found me an oil painting class at Vol State for which I am eternally grateful. I survived about three of the eight classes. I learned a way to set up and clean up my paint (i do it differently now). That was what I really needed and the teacher had a habit of showing what changes she would suggest on your canvass. Even at that stage of oil, I could not stand the idea of someone else working on my work. Besides, art is subjective. How can one person both say to loosen up and paint what you want and then come back and say that it's not right.